Rice was not our "#1 WR," not even close. Tate has had significantly more targets and receptions this season than Rice as RW's primary option, and even Baldwin (as RW's primary safety valve option) had more catches as well. Rice's role would have diminished even further with the return of Harvin, who is best-suited at the 'Z' receiver spot that Rice was at. Rice had only 15 catches and 3 TD's in half a season of work this year, and had ceased to offer anything in the way of run-after-the-catch ability. He had become little more than a 'stop-and-drop' receiver (catch-and-hit-the-ground). Baldwin would have been a much bigger loss, IMO. I don't see this as a significant loss at all, and its clear that Rice has caught his last pass as a Seahawk, as there's ZERO chance he gets brought back next year with his $8.5M salary due in 2014 and only a $2.4M cap charge in 2014 to release him.
